The Sunken Siren
by HecateA
Summary: If the adults in their lives thought that these four boys were trouble, it was because they hadn't seen what they could do as pirates. Now, they're sailing the high seas, patching up an ever-breaking ship, accidentally falling in love, and following strange voices in the waves. Marauders Pirates AU featuring Mermaid Lily. Written for the House Competition, Round 6 Standard.
1. I Followed Your Voice

**Author's Note: ** This pirate AU started off as a joke to use the parrot prompt, but I made it real and now I like it, uh oh. So yes, be warned, this is a Pirate/Creature AU. I tried to map the song you'll read below onto Great Big Sea's "Fast as I Can." They're a Newfoundlander band that I highly recommend, and they do a lot of sailor/boat/folksy music. Anyways, enjoy these idiots marauding but on water!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **NA

* * *

**House:** Hufflepuff

**Role:** Head Girl

**Category:** Round 6, Standard

**Prompt:** [Animal] Parrot

**Word Count:** 1986

**Stacked with: **Hogwarts House Cup; MC4A; Ship Wars; Snicket Fence; By Any Other Name

**Individual Challenge(s): **Gryffindor MC (x4); Bow Before the Blacks; Seeds; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux; Short Jog; Creature People

**Representation: **Misfit Marauders' brotherhood; Hen mother James Potter

**Bonus challenge(s): **Second Verse (Not a Lamp); Found Family; Fizzy Lemonade; Chorus (Odd Feathers)

**Tertiary bonus challenge(s): **NA

_**Shipping War**_

**Ship (Team):** Lily Evans and James Potter (Patronus Pair)

**List (Prompt):** Creature AU

* * *

**The Sunken Siren**

**Chapter 1: I Followed Your Voice**

* * *

"Sirius, if you want to keep the bird, you need to shut it up," Remus said categorically.

"You absolute monster! You'd have me send this beauty away when we're so far from land?" Sirius said, aghast.

"A harbor can be found quite easily," Remus warned, unspooling more rope to lower the bucket into the sea.

Sirius leaned against the carrack's railing and ran a hand along the bird's colourful back feathers. "Don't listen to him, Lady Valentina. I won't let the bad man send you away…"

"It's not Valentina," Peter chimed in.

"What? You'd call her 'Dumbass' like Moony?"

"Her name is Lucy, she told me in a dream."

"More like she told you when you'd finished that supply of rum that was supposed to last us a month."

"First off, James helped. Secondly, if Sirius gets to have a damned _parrot, _I don't understand why I can't engage in perfectly acceptable pirate-like behavior without being taunted," Peter said. "Also, I fixed that leak in the stern. You're _welcome_, everyone."

"Lovely," Sirius said. "Now, did someone fix that leak in James' mind, or is he still insisting we have to stay on that sperm whale migration course he plotted out?" Sirius asked.

"I'm telling you, that migration course is wrong," Remus said, hauling his bucket back on deck. "Every book we've got below-deck tracks entirely different routes. I don't know what James is following, but it's not sperm whales. Can someone talk to him, please?"

"He won't let me get anywhere close to him while I've got Valentina."

"Lucy."

"Dumbass," Remus said. "Sirius, drop the bird. You can always get to him, and this is on the urgent side. Remember last time James had an idea and none of us stopped it?"

"Yes. We ran away from Hogwarts and magically adapted a Muggle carrack to become pirates, and it's going swimmingly," Sirius said. "I have an earring now."

"I was thinking of that time when he decided that we should actively follow some Royal Navy ships into harbor, trap them in their home turfs, and pillage their ships," Remus said.

"That also went well, all the loot's in the hull…" Peter started.

* * *

Below deck, James was in the captain's quarters. The desk was absolutely littered—a map of the world, maps of the winds, maps of the current, star charts, last year's ship's log, three other books opened face-down… Last night, a spilled ink bottle had proved near catastrophic, but most of the splotches had been soaked up.

"Oye," Sirius said. "You're not captain, get out of the captain's quarters."

"You're not captain either, don't tell me to get out of the quarters," James said. "Also get that bird away from me, she smells as if hell woke up from a hundred-year nap and took a deep breath."

"Then you should be familiar with the odour, though unlike you, my fair lady here lacks the opposable thumbs for better hygiene." Sirius walked into the room. "You know, Remus is seeing right through your little sperm whale diversion."

"Me?" James said, a hand on his chest. "Create a diversion?"

"Yes, I believe that is exactly his implication," Sirius said. "Look, he'll figure it out sooner or later, you know. Just be straight with us."

"What a thing for you out of all people to request."

"Take a long walk off the shortest plank," Sirius said. He sat down on the captain's bed and leaned back. Valentina squawed in protest and hopped off of him.

"James?" Sirius said.

James looked up. His hair was messier than usual; he wore breeches and a loose white shirt that emphasized how sleepless and disheveled he looked.

"James, you're like a brother to me," Sirius said.

James had forged those bonds by saving all of them, in some way or another. He had been the one to take charge when the world had closed in around Remus and his secret, when Sirius' parents had begun speaking of arranged marriages, and when Peter's father had lost the family fortune and he'd nearly had to leave school... Their world, the world they'd built, had been threatened. James had seen fate's hand approaching with the pin that would burst it all, so he swept them all away and into the high seas. They'd turned their backs to the world before it did it to them.

It had taken them weeks to figure out how to fix up and enchant the broken-down carrack they'd found so that the sails would raise and lower themselves. Getting the anchors to cooperate had been a different story altogether. _The Sunken Siren _came by her name very honestly. But they'd survived all of their bad decisions thus far and were planning on continuing to do so, because together they could. Together they could do anything.

"I'd trust you with my life," James told him.

"We'd follow you to the end of the world. Perhaps we geographically already have. So just tell us where we're going," Sirius said.

"Sperm whales—"

"Enough with the whales," Sirius snapped.

"Seeds is eating some string off the floor, you probably shouldn't let her do that…"

"Her name isn't _Seeds, _it's Lady Valentina Maria Roquelle di Birdie," Sirius cut in. He got up to wrestle the scraps away. The parrot tried to bite him in protest, seemingly not at all thankful for the gift of life Sirius had given it.

James got up, tucked a notebook into the waistband of his pants, and left the room.

"Don't think you got yourself out of this conversation," Sirius called out to him.

"Wouldn't dream of it, love," James hollered back—walking away without realizing that he was humming her song under his breath.

* * *

That night, he lowered a rowboat down from _The Sunken Siren _into the sea. He was thankful for the calm night—the bright stars that made getting his bearings easy, the gentleness of the waves, the smell of salt that heightened his senses…

He sat on his rowboat, with only the moon, a lantern, and his hope that he was right. That he'd understood correctly, read the stars right… Merlin, perhaps another year of Astronomy wouldn't have hurt after all. Then a splash and a gentle dip of the rowboat drew his attention to… her.

He wished he could see her better—that he had a thousand lanterns and maybe the sun to discern her features, but it was definitely her. The bright red hair with seashell beads, the pale white skin, narrow eyes (he remembered the green the night hid), the full lips teasingly raised at the corners…

"You found me," the mermaid said, elbows resting on the edge of the boat.

"I… I hoped I would, but I wasn't sure," James admitted. Her taunting grin broke into a smile and James felt his heart burst, and for a while it was just them, rocked whichever way the waves saw fit.

"You know, it is quite brave of you to come meet a mermaid alone... or quite foolish." she said coyly.

"Believe me, I've heard enough mariners' songs and stories to know. But I don't think you'd hurt me," James said. "You saved my life."

Her lips fell. "I shouldn't have done that."

"My name is James."

"Lily."

"That's a flower, on land," he said.

"In my peoples' language, it means _surface wave _or _ripple," _she said. "I like the surface."

"Is that how you learned English?" James asked.

"How do you know this isn't Mermish?"

"Because I only speak the dialect spoken in Scottish lochs, and I'd imagine it would be different for merfolk in the Atlantic."

"Clever man," she smiled. "Yes, that is how I learned English."

"I thought I should give this back," James said, reaching into his coat and passing the sand dollar her way.

When James had washed ashore, after a particularly bad experiment aboard _The Sunken Siren, _he'd had the sand dollar in his hand. The sand dollar and vague memories—glimpses only, really—of the mermaid, as well as a song. The song he remembered best.

"Keep it," Lily said. "A gift from the sea should not be scorned, for they are—"

"—Few and far between," James finished the saying. Lily smiled, and her eyes seemed to shine. James' heart twisted.

"Maybe your voice did cast a spell on me," James mused.

"How much of my song do you remember?" Lily asked.

James knew it well enough to sing it.

"_From the sea floor to the sky above, my treasure's nowhere to be found_

_Sailors armed with maps may try, but they'll look until they're drowned_

_So forgive me if you can't hold, the bounty which I swear is yours_

_I'll be under the stars, that bring men to their shores_

_I may see you there one day_

_I'll be where the currents meet to then fly away_

_And we'll see about saying "I love you" then_

_And the sea may just say "I love you" then."_

"Did you come for your treasure, then?"

"I came for you," James said. He felt himself blushing. "I had to thank you. And I had to ask about the sea. I know she has power beyond my understanding. Power they never taught us about where I learned magic."

"The sea's power isn't taught, it is felt," Lily said.

"Tell me more," James said.

Lily smiled, but it looked sad now. "How many accidents has that misfit vessel of yours had since we met?"

James searched his mind. "None." Shockingly.

Lily smiled. "Do you know how mermaids survive in a place as harsh as the sea? So well and so beautifully?"

The word suddenly reminded James of how beautiful the girl in front of him was and he blushed, hard.

"Because the sea loves us," Lily continued. She cocked her head to the side. "When I rescued you, I… I had a good feeling about you, James." She tested his name in her mouth, like a wine—one that he'd like her to drink forever. "And I heard your friends—your friends who were looking for you frantically, who would do anything to save you, who would give anything to have you back. So, I asked the sea to love you too."

James swallowed hard. "And did it?"

Lily nodded her head.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Lily said. "But I think it means that the sea's made me love you a little bit in turn. Maybe it's done the same for you. I'm not quite sure how humans feel love, you see."

"Strongly," James blurted.

Lily smiled.

"But you do know that I'm a mermaid and you're a man, yes?" Lily said. "The sea is powerful, but it is not foolishly so."

James swallowed. "I… I understand."

Lily nodded.

"Can I meet you here again?" James blurted. "Sometime… in the future…"

Lily smiled. "Why don't you wait for the sea to give us another song, James?"

And with that, she let go of the boat and flipped backwards into the sea. He caught the glimpse of an emerald green tail.

* * *

They were waiting for him on the deck. They didn't know much—there was no way that they had heard or seen anything much from their vantage point on the deck, but they'd found his missing bed, seen the missing boat, and saw their friend looking… well. Like this.

Sirius clapped a hand on James' shoulder. "We'll call the bird Seeds if it'll make you feel better."

The parrot cawed in protest. "Fuck you, Dumbass!"

"You fucking traitor!" Sirius barked, looking at the bird as it flew off and landed on Remus' shoulder.

"I don't want this thing," he said, trying to shrug the parrot off. James laughed at that and clasped his hands on his friends' shoulders.

"Let's go below deck," James said. "I need… a drink. With my friends."

"Should I change our course first?" Peter asked.

"Leave it," James said. "We'll just keep marauding."


	2. The Sea Gave Us Time

**Author's Note: **Hey friends! Remember months ago when I said "huh, might continue this, might not"? Well, here we are! This chapter's songs are set to the music of Great Big Sea once again, specifically the songs "My Apology" and "How Did We Get From Saying I Love You." Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **NA

* * *

**Stacked with: **MC4A; Shipping War; Tasty Yandras; Animal Verses; Ornate Oscillating Obelisks

**Individual Challenge(s): **Gryffindor MC (x4); Marauders Tales (Y); Bow Before the Blacks; Brush; Seeds; Shipmas; Creature People; Colonial Times; Old Shoes; Location, Location, Location; Trope it Up C (Secret Relationship); Themes and Things A (Friendship); Themes and Things B (Reunion); Themes and Things C (Flowers); Ethnic and Present; Neurodivergent; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; Real Family; Flags and Ribbons; Team Player; Short Jog; The Real MC

**Representation(s): **Pirate!AU; day trip; Lady Valentina Maria Roquelle di Birdie (parrot); Remus Lupin (werewolf)

**Bonus challenge(s):** Ntaiv; Bast's Blessing; Creature Feature; Vid Tangent; Wind Beneath; Second Verse (Pocky Pockets); Chorus (Persistence Still)

**Tertiary bonus challenge: **Orator; Oath

**List (Prompt): **Potential Non-Romantic B Plot (Training a new pet/work animal)

**Word Count: **3964

* * *

_**Shipping Wars**_

**Ship (Team): **Lily Evans/James Potter (Patronus Pair)

**List (Prompt): **Summer Medium 2 (Pirate AU)

* * *

**2**

**The Sea Gave Us Time **

"We should invest in a cat," Sirius said over dinner

Remus put down his fork and knife. "Absolutely not."

"Cats are _useful!" _Sirius protested.

"That's what you said about the parrot," Peter said.

"And she has brought light and colour into our lives," Sirius said.

"That's right, Dumbass," the bird croaked from her perch—James' empty chair at the moment.

"To be fair, cats do hunt rats and have a practical purpose to play on ships," Remus sighed. "That was _not_ an endorsement."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know we had any volunteers to run the rats on _The Sunken Siren," _Sirius bit back. "A cat would be more than happy…"

"What's so wrong with rats?" Peter asked.

"Jesus, Wormtail, have you been feeding them again? Thus aggravating the need for pest control that a feline could so easily fill?"

"I will leave," Remus said. "I'm so very serious."

"Funny, because I thought that _I…_"

"You're a mess," Remus sighed.

"Speaking of a mess," Peter said quietly. "We should maybe… well, since he's not here…"

"Talk about how fucking bizarre James has been acting?" Sirius said. All of a sudden, his worry became real and genuine and grounded. He rested his chin on his fist. "I've tried broaching the subject with him. But he's been as antsy and impossible and evasive as always. I'm sorry, lads. I really don't know this time."

"We can't let this go on much longer," Remus said. "By which I mean the sleeplessness, the restlessness, the not-eating…"

"So glad we're eating," a voice said.

James dropped down from the deck, ignoring the ladder he could have climbed. James grinned at them and collapsed on his usual chair, scaring off the bird and grabbing a piece of bread from Remus' plate and taking a massive bite.

They exchanged confused glances.

"How's life, James?"

"Great," he said. "Hey, so listen; I know the full moon is still a week away, but why don't we start heading towards land a little early this time?"

The little time they did spend on land was only to account for the full moon. On those days, they anchored the ship farther out from the harbor than strictly physically possible (hence the blessing of having spent at least a few years learning magic before jumping to piracy) and let Remus' transformation run its course. As it turned out: werewolves didn't swim. The problem was largely that Remus was the keeper of their entire party's intellectual capacity, meaning that they got up to their absolute stupidest antics without his supervision. But overall, the system worked.

"Because we're pirates?" Peter said. "And the longer we spend on land the more likely we are to run into the Royal Navy. This is fairly common knowledge."

"I know, I know," James sighed. "But Moony hasn't had a night in town for so long. I thought it'd be nice, you know. Given your birthday's coming up."

Remus blinked once. "My birthday is December. James, are you alright?"

"I meant last year's birthday," James said. "We didn't do anything. Anyways; Stranger's Harbor is a day away if we change our course, yes? Yes! They've got that antique book shop there that you like, Remus. The bakery with the best croissants this side of the sea. Plenty of places for Sirius to get absolutely sloshed. It'll be great!"

He threw the bread back onto Remus' plate and wandered away.

* * *

James was laying on his bed, staring at his cabin's ceiling and trying to draw constellations between the nails that had been hammered in at random, speckles of paint…

"_Look, close, where men have failed_

_In their tragedies you'll find your chance_

_Every pearl stolen away will for an hour leave you unveiled_

_The port of unknown faces will see you well-met and hailed."_

He sat up, startled to hear those words again. But it was just Remus.

"How do you know that song?" James asked.

Remus extended his arm and Lady Valentina Maria Roquelle di Birdie, alias Lucy, alias Seeds, alias Dumbass, flew up and landed on his arm.

"That bird," James sighed. "How dare she _parrot _me so_."_

"I would never admit it to Sirius, but she is quite useful," Remus said. "Perhaps she's growing on me."

He stared at James. When Remus Lupin wanted a question answered, he did not ask again. He waited. The rest of them were like sharks, in constant motion to try and keep afloat. Remus was not: he was still and methodical.

"Would you believe me if I told you I caught it on an ocean breeze?" James asked.

Strictly speaking, this was the truth. And in the name of the Sea and her Mercy and Might, James hoped that Lily had caught the same song this time too.

"I wouldn't know what to believe because you've changed so drastically in the last months," Remus said, shutting the door behind him. The parrot fluttered and landed on James' desk.

"I don't know what you mean," James said.

"We all worry about you," Remus said. "You've become unpredictable. Volatile. And quiet, too. It's impossible to keep up with you in any meaningful way."

"I've always been a bit of a wild child," James said. "Nobody's ever understood the way I leap from one thing to another, or run away with my thoughts."

This was not something he missed from Hogwarts.

"Not with us," Remus said. He sat down on the minuscule desk, bringing his feet on the equally narrow chair. He dusted off the top of his boots. "Where do you go at night? When you're supposed to be keeping watch but you lower a boat into the waves?"

"I put defensive spells up," James said. "I'm not being negligent. I'm not leaving the ship unguarded."

"I believe it," Remus said. "But that is not an answer to my question, per se."

James chewed his lip.

His friends wouldn't believe him. None of them.

Or worse, they would and they wouldn't _understand. _James knew they wouldn't. None of them had ever been in a comparable situation, not even in an equivalent which included two humans—which James' current predicament did not, complicating the issue of Lily further.

He thought back to the Sea's latest song. _Every pearl stolen away will for an hour leave you unveiled. _If that meant what James thought it meant… if he was right about this port of unknown faces, and if by chance Lily knew where it was as well…

The rest of the song hummed in his ear, where it had been quite the ear worm since he'd first heard it.

"_Come along_

_If you believe the moment calls for unity_

_Come along_

_If you believe your love can move the sea_

_Come along_

_If you believe that stolen kisses_

_Ought to grow to something free."_

"James," Remus said, catching his attention again.

"Sorry," James said. "Yes. I'm… I'm here."

"Right," Remus said. He was holding his arm, his thumb nervously running circles over a spot James knew for a fact held Remus' nastiest—and first—scar. His bite mark. "James, I know what it's like to keep a secret. No matter how good you are at it, it will always be easier as a shared load."

"Got it," James muttered. His stomach twisted. He didn't _want _to share Lily. He didn't think he could. But he couldn't quite meet Remus' eyes either.

"And there's something else you should know about secrets," Remus said, getting up again. "The people who love you will love your secrets too. You should know; you taught me that."

James opened and closed his mouth.

"We've never hesitated to put ourselves in stupid situations by taking stupid risks, but the unknown is genuinely frightening. Please try to find the time to tell us the truth," Remus said. "Before we have to start thinking twice about where we follow you."

* * *

James shone the lantern around the surrounding waters one more time. For once, not seeing Lily's red hair break through the waves brought a smile to his face. From what he knew about the underwater geography of the merfolk's territory and the special currents the Sea raised just for them, her path to Stranger's Harbor would be vastly different from the one _The Sunken Siren _was taking.

If Lily wasn't here this soon after hearing one of the ocean's songs, it meant she was going to meet him there.

* * *

The town was alive with preparations for the Summer Solstice Festival, one of the busiest times of the year for what was town on a very busy island.

It was, of course, crawling with Royal Navy. Her Majesty's Finest had several bases on Diagon Island. Considering how many international trading routes the island connected, they were particularly active and stringent and vigilant. Diagon Island's reputation as a convenient if not dangerous landing base for unsavory characters such as themselves doubled the need for security—though most not-so-legal types stayed out of Stranger's Harbour and lingered in the Northern parts of the island. But not the crew of the Sunken Siren, of course!

After getting rid of the other boys and sending them on their own ventures, James was having to ask some very strange questions. For example: _if I were a mermaid, where would I start exploring a seaport town?_

Presuming, of course, that he was right. For months the Sea had put them in each other's paths, but James still struggled to make sense of his strange patron's words sometimes. It made him feel somewhat better that Lily, who had always known her and her ways, faced the same uncertainty.

James was sitting by the general store near the harbor, finishing the last few bites of a fish sandwich and pretending to scrutinize the various wanted posters like a good citizen as he puzzled through what to do from this point onwards.

"Looking for yourself?"

He spun around and there… inexplicably, against all odds, against all reason—there was Lily.

There was Lily. On land.

Beautiful as ever, mind you. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, save for a dozen of tiny braids threaded through shell beads crossing the back of her head in the merfolk's way. She wore a simple white blouse tucked into a scarlet skirt—he had no idea where she'd gotten any of those clothes, or the simple work apron she wore over them. She could have worked in any boutique, at any hostel, at any tavern in Stranger's Harbour. But she was Lily and she was here.

He dropped his sandwich and went to her, feeling the smile breaking out on his face. She laughed and they crashed together like waves. James tightened his hold around her waist and picked her up. She laughed into their kiss, and he felt her legs lift off the ground. Her legs…

"You're here," he said, pushing back a stray lock of hair. "How are you here? By the Sea, I'm sorry I kissed you, I must smell like fish…"

"I understand that this is quite the transformation, but keep in mind that I am half fish to begin with," Lily smiled. She looked down and hiked her skirt up a bit, showing that she did indeed have two legs now.

"How?" James repeated.

Lily reached into her blouse and pulled out a necklace of pearls that contrasted sharply with her simple clothes. She looked up to him invitingly, and he reached out to touch the beads. Some of them were luminescent, and others were dull. The former were particularly frigid to the touch, like a bucket of storm water.

"What's this?" James asked.

"I found it in a shipwreck," Lily said.

"In 'men's tragedies?'" James ventured.

Lily nodded. "I've visited many of them, to try to learn more about you wizard lot. I haven't found many magical things, but this… Once I found it, the sea told me to file it away, not to wear it. And then I heard our song."

James smiled. He loved that things could be _theirs, _and today seemed like a wonderful addition to that list.

"One pearl per hour?" James asked.

"Presumably, but I don't know what that means," Lily admitted. She blushed—which for a mermaid meant getting paler.

James kissed her forehead and counted the glowing pearls on the necklace.

"We have about an evening," he said.

"An evening," Lily nodded. "Well, we're in your realm now. What does one do with an evening on the surface James?"

"Any number of things," James smiled. "But first I want you to meet a few people."

"Her Majesty's Finest?" Lily asked with a smile on her lips.

"Quite the opposite," James smiled.

* * *

Despite the best intentions to find Sirius, Remus, Peter, or any combination of them—they got distracted.

James should have known this. The second time they'd met, Lily had worked up the courage to ask James about the lantern he brought down with him. He'd lowered it down to the water for her and she'd been fascinated by the fire inside.

She was similarly attracted to any number of mundane human objects. Seeing her bounce from place to place forced him to see the world through new light. She was fascinated by the fruits in the market, and James quietly bought a carton and whisked her away to try them privately to avoid drawing attention to themselves. It was the right call; he loved Lily's reaction but the way her eyes popped at the first bite of fruit definitely would have raised some questions. It occurred to James that there probably weren't many sweet things in the sea.

The smell of freshly baked bread, the softness of freshly dyed yarn, the smoothness of jade stones that were meant to protect sailors—all of these things drew Lily's attention. James reached for everything she looked at to give it to her, he wanted to give the world to her. Every now and then anxiety would come crashing down on him—hours, they only had _hours _together. It felt profoundly unfair.

But then Lily would ask a question about a type of flower in a bouquet or laugh at a busker and James would laugh with her. They only had a few hours but those few hours were the world.

* * *

Peter was minding his own business, spending some hard-earned, well-stolen coins at a betting table in the market. He felt quite comfortable with his odds, given the fact that the dealer's four of clubs was in Peter's sleeve, when he overheard a most unlucky sound.

He spun back and saw none other than Walburga Black, strolling through the market and complaining loudly about the smell of fish, at the arm of her husband and in the shade of parasols carried by servants. House-elves lugging cases trailed behind them meekly.

"Oh, shit," Peter said. "What are the odds?"

"Three to five," the dealer said. She arched an eyebrow. "Did you want to raise again, sir?"

"No, not at all," Peter said. He dropped his cards on the table. With four more rounds of play he could have doubled his winnings, but Sirius needed to be found _immediately._

"Thank you," Peter said, grabbing the coins on the table and dashing off to find his friend.

This was _not _good.

* * *

Another category of things that Lily was particularly keen on were things that couldn't get wet. In other words, things she had never seen before.

The bookstore caught her attention, for one. James had to explain what books were.

"Stories, but solid," Lily said.

"Sure," James nodded. "Stories but solid. Which isn't to say we write down everything, we memorize and sing some too. And others we just tell once, and that's all. And sometimes we keep stories to ourselves. Or we write down books that aren't full of stories, but have other things in them."

"Write?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," James said. "You, umm… we have these symbols, they mean words when you put them together a certain way…"

"Like our runes," Lily said.

"Maybe," James said. "I don't know enough."

Lily nodded. "Merfolk—if we find a shell big enough to hold them, sometimes we speak into seashells and whisper words of power to keep the message locked."

"That's beautiful," James said. "I would love to hear that one day, if that's okay."

"I would love to hear this reading," Lily said.

James nodded and tugged her towards the bookshop, holding the door open for her.

Lily picked up on the quietness and serenity of the little shop immediately, her eyes surveying the narrow alleys and the stacks of books that topped the impossibly high bookshelves. The whole shop looked like it might topple down at any time, while also seeming solid.

"I don't know where to begin," Liy whispered.

"I do," James said, tugging her hand. They got distracted along the way by the shop's cat, which was lurking around.

"I've never seen such a beautiful creature," Lily said, petting it softly.

James smiled and plucked a book off the shelves. _The Tales of Beedle the Bard. _Short, sweet, classics, and magical enough that they may just meet a mermaid's expectations of the world.

They sat together in the back of the shop.

"Can I sit on you?" Lily asked. She blushed again. "I just—I saw a human couple in the market like that, and they looked quite comfortable…"

"Of course," James said. "Come here."

* * *

Sirius, during this time, was at a shop labeled Horace's Apothecary, discussing the possibility that his friend had been poisoned by a love potion.

"I don't know when he'd have ingested it," Sirius said. "We've been at sea for so long, but he's an idiot to the upteenth degree, so I won't discount the possibility based off of logistics."

The apothecary froze.

"You've been at sea?"

"Yes," Sirius said. The man paled. "Surely that's not so unusual in these parts."

"No," the Apothecary said quietly. "But it does mean that I… that I'm quite alarmed by just how much you resemble the gentleman on that wanted poster now."

Sirius spun around to look at the wanted posters plastered on the wall by the door. He saw his own face, butchered by the artist but still recognizable, along with James, Peter, and Remus…

He turned back to the apothecary, fully intending to obliviate the man, but the apothecary was quicker than he looked. With a flash of emerald green light he disappeared, and with another flash Sirius was suddenly standing outside the shop, whose sign now read 'CLOSED.'

Then he heard someone ringing a bell—presumably one of the emergency bells that was to be rung to summon the Royal Navy.

Oh this was _not _good.

* * *

Lily squealed with delight when she saw the tiny fish-shaped cookies being cooked up at a stand.

"Look!" she said.

James laughed. "They're even better once you taste them, they're… you'll see."

He bought two, but held off on eating his until he saw her taste hers. Her eyes widened in shock when the custard inside splattered out.

He smiled and took a bite of his, taking her hand with his spare and listening to her chatter on about human food.

"By the way," Lily said. "I see a lot of coins being exchanged. Does everything cost coins in the human world?"

"Yes," James said. "It's a problem."

"Where do you get your coins?" Lily asked.

"Don't worry about that," he said. He grinned. "That's _not _your problem."

* * *

Remus was enjoying his first taste of goddamned peace and quiet in nearly a month, sitting at a cafe with his new book, a title that had released just a month after he'd set out to sea last time. From his seat, he could see the masts and sails of the dock.

Out of nowhere, a woman with violently pink hair wearing blue trousers, messy boots, and a men's shirt under a very loose and light black coat came to sit at his table. Remus looked up from his book and coffee, unsure as to what fresh hell this was.

Cup hovering a few inches away from his lips, he arched an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" Remus asked.

"No," the woman said. And there before him, her features changed. All of a sudden, opposite of Remus sat a pirate he knew well with auburn hair cut at the chin, a strong jaw, and a scar near the eye. "But I suppose you could give me my ship back."

Remus put down his cup. Still, his heart was beating in his throat. Oh, _shit. _

This was _not _good at all.

* * *

When he and Lily made their way back to the marketplace, candles had been lit everywhere to account for the darkening sky. Where the buskers had performed that afternoon, now a band played slow songs with a fiddle and a series of flutes. Couples and pairs had taken to the dance floor, swaying softly.

Lily paused and watched, as she'd paused and watched a thousand things that day. James squeezed her hand.

"Did you want to try?" he asked.

"I'm afraid of dancing," she said quietly. "It seems like a rather elaborate use of legs that I don't know that I'm ready for it."

"Do you like the music?" James asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Are you… are you a little bit in love?" James asked.

"More than a little bit," Lily said quietly.

"That's all you need," James said. "Come, I'll help."

He looped his arms around her, hands resting on the small of her back.

"What do I do with mine?" Lily asked.

"Where do you want to put them?" James asked.

She looked around at the various other pairs around her, and then back at James. She put her arms around his neck and smiled at him. He smiled back and started swaying along with the music. Lily seemed unsure at first, but soon she was just leaning against James and following his motions.

"Dancing is just like the rocking of the sea," she said quietly.

"It—I suppose it is," James said.

Lily nodded before leaning her head against his chest. He wondered for a minute if she was doing it because everyone around them was, or if she just genuinely wanted to.

He kissed the top of her head and rested his cheek against her hair. The smell of salt hung around her faintly. The pattern of her breathing was ever so slightly different; she inhaled and exhaled like the roar and crash of waves. He heard her hum and sing, ever so quietly.

"_When we walk on this land, there's no telling how long_

_Before something that cuts comes along_

_And though it may seem like we've crossed over a line_

_What can be done when stars align? _

_I swear we won't break_

_We can weather their storms, sink down to the sea floor_

_I swear we won't break_

_There's no way to leave what we have on this shore."_

_We may be at the mercy of the tide_

_But our hearts too can decide_

_Tonight."_

"Tonight," James repeated into her hair. It felt like the most precious thing in the world, until he remembered who it was he was holding.

She looked up at James, who was hyperconscious of the two lonely pearls left on her necklace.

"Take me to your ship," Lily said quietly.

"What?" James asked, caught offguard.

"Take me to your ship," she said again. "I only have two hours left on the surface. I want to… _see _everything."

James paused for a moment, but soon he guided her off the dance floor and down to the docks and up the plank and down through _The Sunken Siren._

* * *

And that was where James was when all of Stranger's Harbour went absolutely, positively, batshit crazy that night.


End file.
